Once again, I am so sorry for the delay in posting. Life happens, you know…

Last month, my friend Catherine invited me to be on her vlog and talk about the things I create. We had a blast, as we usually do and I told her that I would open my Etsy shop soon. Well, today is the day! No joke! (Yes I know it’s April Fools Day but I really am serious!) So far, I only listed 3 things but there will be more very soon. I just need to take photos of my items.

And I know I’ve said it before but I will definitely be back to blogging on a more regular basis. I miss it a lot. And I keep forgetting to post about this:

Pay it Forward

I commented on the lovelyViv’s blogand now it’s my turn to spread the love. (Do visit her blog: she is talented and so are her boys.)

The first five commenters (who want to participate) on this post will receive, from me, during the year of 2013, something hand made in the mail.

I can’t say when it will be (but it will be this year)I can’t say what it will be (but it will be something I have made – a card, collage, fabric postcard, small gift…)

In return, you pay it forward by offering the same deal to five other people.

Let’s spread crafty mail loveliness all over this world, and brighten each others days!

Like this:

So I got lost for a little while there. But fear no more, I found my way back. In fact, when I woke up (way too early) this morning, I declared today to be “Take back my life” day. What better way to do this than getting back to this little blog of mine which used to be such a big part of my life. And I have to say, I miss it. A whole lot! I actually have quite a few things to show you on here but we’ll start with the album above…

This is a travel mini-album that I created out of envelops and file folders for a friend so she could put photos of her trip to Europe. It took quite some time to make this beauty but I loved every single minute of it. The hardest part of the process was taking the photos and finally giving it to its owner! If you click on the photo above, it will take you to my Flickr album where you can see photos of all the pages.

I also wanted to let you know that I closed my Artfire shop but am working instead on opening an Etsy shop. Of course, I’ll let you all know when that’s done. And if there’s something in particular that you like to see in there, feel free to let me know.

I spent part of yesterday creating little things and slowly clearing my war zone, I mean, my studio. There is a lot of work ahead but if I do a little bit every day, it will get done and I won’t get overwhelmed. The journal above is one of the things I made last night. I loved the image on the gift bag so I decided to repurpose it. I removed the bottom of the bag and the very top where the holes for the handles were. I then removed one side and folded the other side out instead of in. The pages are made of plain paper, some white, some colours and the whole thing is bound with the ribbon that served as one of the handles. It’s available in my shop now.

Like this:

I worked on her for three days, a little bit at a time, and I can now present to you Anonymous, my latest Kool Kreature! She is a colourful character who still likes to stay in her own corner, watching and relaxing. Kind of like her creator. If you want to bring her into your home, you can find her in my shop.

It’s a grey, rainy morning but I’m keeping my smile on. Things happen for a reason and I trust the Universe to bring me a lot of brighter (and dryer) days soon.

It’s been over a month since I’ve done a Kool Kreature so I got an itch to get started again. These two are made from sock leftovers (from another project), buttons and felt. They measure approximately 3.5″ x 5″. They are available in my shop, as well as the second whale made last month.

Ever since I opened my online shop, I’ve been thinking about my future products and marketing. A couple of years ago, I had ordered free business cards. But when I received them, I realized I had made a mistake on them. I made corrections on a few of them but the 225 others (or so) are still in their box, unused. So one thing I want to do is to at least use them as a base for new business cards. I want to make something simple on my computer that I can then just cut to size and glue on the base. But I also want a personalized stamp to add tags to my creations. So I tried making a big one to start ( about 3″ x 3″) with the letters M, K and A (for MissKoolAid.) It’s not perfect but it’s a good start. Next time, I will try a smaller one. I’m also thinking of making postcards to use as “thank you” cards. I like it when I buy something from another artist or artisan and they add a little something to the package like a postcard or if they decorate the envelop. It makes the transaction more personal to me. What do you think?

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Dear friends, it is official: my online shop is now open for business! I chose to go with Artfire instead of Etsy but it works pretty much the same way. You don’t have to sign up for an account to shop and you can pay via PayPal. Thank you for all of your support!